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STRONG BAD:{singing} There comes a time, when we read a certain email. {reads email}

Dear Strong Bad,
What is your opinion of the effects
of in video games on children? Are
video games harmful to the
development of the human brain?

sincerely,
Wilbur, Seattle, WA

{Strong Bad sings "WA" as a high note (pronounced "wa")}

STRONG BAD: Ohh, Wilbur. Sounds like a little video game programming version of The Cheat.

{A balding creature with a human head, long hair, glasses, a beard, and a The Cheat body appears on the screen momentarily.}

STRONG BAD:{typing} No way, Wilbur. Video games actually teach you all kindsa new stuff. Think of all the words we've learned from video games. {clears screen} There's "strafe." Who ever used strafe before they started putting it in video games? They used to just say, "walk sideways and shoot." Then there's "toggle." Y'know, you gotta toggle between the missiles and the lasers. {clears screen} And who could forget "melee." Which I can only assume means, "a buncha peoples fighting, like, all at the same time." Plus, most video games provide a veritable what-not-to-do of spelling and grammar. {stops typing} Just give a kid a video game instruction booklet.

{The cover of the instruction manual for "Strong Sad's Strafing/Toggling Challenge!!" appears on the screen.}

STRONG BAD:{typing} And who doesn't remember staying up all night to beat an end boss only to be rewarded with a hearty {typed in big, bold, golden letters} CONGRATURATION! {resumes typing normally} They didn't even bother giving you multiple ones. Just a single congraturation they had lying around {pausing each time, as if struggling to think of a term} the video game make place.

{Cut to an office setting. A balding creature with short hair, glasses, and a mustache and a The Cheat body is standing by a computer, while Wilbur is standing near a box of "congraturations!", which look like muffins. A Broderbund Software and Jumpman poster are in the background. Text in the corner reads, "AT THE VIDEO GAME MAKE PLACE"}

BALD GUY: Hey man, you gonna eat that last Congraturation?

WILBUR: Naw, man. We're puttin' it in the game if you beat the end boss.

If you use the Angle button to change the angle, then when Strong Bad talks about the word "melee", you'll see a computer screen filled with sprites of all the main characters "attacking" each other at The Stick.

The controller Strong Sad is holding in the instruction manual is very similar to the original NES controller.

In fact, it bears a close resemblance to the Famicom's (The Japanese counterpart to the NES) controller.

Brøderbund Software is a now-defunct game development house, best known for its games Lode Runner, Reader Rabbit, and the Carmen Sandiego series. The company itself is still around, but has all but ceased production of games.

Jumpman was a classic computer game from Epyx. The poster pictured in the background is the box art from one of its many versions.

It should also be noted that the title video games had already been used for another Strong Bad Email and therefore a slight variation had to be given to this one.

Strong Bad's intro song is based on USA For Africa's "We Are The World".

"Congraturation" is from the end screen of the Nintendo game Ghosts 'n Goblins. Generally regarded as one of the most difficult video games of all time, its ending can be viewed here. The ending of Thy Dungeonman makes reference to this as well.

"Challenge again!" from the manual is also a reference to the ending of Ghosts 'n Goblins.

Strong Bad says "Ohh, Wilbur" like the title horse in the '60s TV series Mister Ed.

The style of the "melee"-game's graphics resemble those of the games made for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

The comment about toggling between missiles and lasers brings to mind the gameplay in the 2D Metroid games, in which the player has to toggle between beams, missiles, and bombs in order to defeat various enemies and open doors.